


Of Daring Loyalty

by yaruna



Series: Of Years Gone By [9]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Legolas POV, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2015-10-04
Packaged: 2018-04-24 18:22:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4930285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yaruna/pseuds/yaruna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Legolas POV</p><p>Elladan, Elrohir and Estel visit Legolas in Mirkwood for the games, but orcs are prowling the woods.</p><p>All parts of the series are stand-alone one-shots, though some may have references to previous happenings</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Daring Loyalty

'Would you please calm down, Legolas?' My father said through his teeth, and I stopped fidgeting.

'Sorry, father.' I said, appropriately chastised, and more than a little ashamed. One could think I was an elfling again. I meet Elladan, Elrohir and Estel at least once per year, but almost never in Mirkwood, this was only the third time for Estel. They were to watch the games that we held once a century. Well, approximately once a century. Time is not really important in the Elven realms, although I have started to notice the years more since befriending a human. When I was an elfling, I thought the years went much too slow; I just wanted to grow up. Now however, they went far too fast, although I knew Estel would disagree.

'You may leave.' Father sighed. Had we been alone he would have rolled his eyes, but right now we were sitting and watching the qualifying rounds for the warriors.

'Nay.' I muttered silently. 'I would not be that rude to our warriors.' I was sure I saw my father smirk in the corner of my eye, but when I turned towards him, he was looking exactly as normal.

The qualifying rounds were to finish during the day. Only the Elves that had won the last time were directly qualified. One of the winners had travelled to Valinor already, so we had offered the runner-up that position. She had refused, saying she would qualify according to the regular rules. We had never been in that position before, so it would not really have been a breach against the regular rules. But my father had acquiesced with her request, and she had been one of the first in the two forging classes that had qualified.

Once the last qualifying game of the day was finished I was to go out together with the evening patrol. It was not my regular patrol group; this group was missing one Elf who had been hurt by a spider the last time and they needed someone to fill their number.

'Prince Legolas,' Óleryd said respectfully as we met up by the gates, and I gave him a nod. 'Would you wish to take command this evening?'

'Nay. I am merely helping out, and you are still the squad leader.' I thought I saw a flash of regret in his eyes, and frowned.

'Is everything all right, Óleryd?' I asked, for we could not have a squad leader whom did not wish to lead.

'Yes. I was merely thinking of Thímen, who is still in the halls of healing after he protected me from a blow from that spider. I am grateful that you are taking time to join our patrol.' I smiled; it was always hard for a squad leader to have one under your command be injured. I knew this, for I had been there a few times.

'He chose to protect you. It is a greatly commending to your skills as a leader, for you have the loyalty of your subordinates.'

He nodded gratefully and turned towards the seven Elves that were joining us just then. I quickly noted there were only two Elves there that I had not been on patrol with before.

'Legolas will be Thímen's replacement tonight.' He began, before rolling into his regular report of the day's events. 'During the day, ten more spiders were found around the same area as we attacked the last time, but it seems like we have it under control.' Some satisfied nods went through the squad at that. 'Our patrol today will be second west.' I saw slightly annoyed faces when he said this, but they quickly hid their expressions. Second west was definitely the part where action was the least likely to happen, being the Shadowed area the closest to the Elvenking's Halls. Lately, we had managed to keep this area almost completely clean from spiders. One or two would stray in, but they never got time to build a nest.

We quickly took the places of our kinsmen who had been in charge of the area before us. It did not take a genius to figure out that they blamed me for the easy placement, even though they had gotten it due to Thímen's injury. A squad with an injured member always got one of the areas that was close to the Halls. It was to avoid having them go on a longer patrol period before the squad member was well again, just in case something was to happen.

Although the number of injured Elves was going up, it was obviously not quite common enough for everyone to have figured out this quirk of my father's. I knew that most of my kinsmen thought of him as cold, but fair. He is not cold; just like any Elf, his feelings run deep, but he does not wear them on his sleeve for everyone to see.

'I was sure we would be going to west twelve.' I heard Lamaethor mutter and I shook my head. He is one of the elves I have not had patrol with previously. West twelve was a fortnight out from the Halls at least. Four days to get to the area, then seven days of patrol, and four days back. According to the healers Thímen would be recovered enough to join them again in three days time.

'Will you not enjoy the respite? From what I have heard, you have had your share of dangerous encounters.' I smiled as I said this, trying not to judge them.

'The Shadow does not rest.' He answered grumpily, an angry glare in my direction. Apparently he would not show such restraint.

'It does not, though there are many of us that are helping to keep it at bay. Your squad need not carry that weight on your own.'

' _You'_ re not helping.' He muttered with hostility, and I could not avoid raising an eyebrow in annoyance and askance.

'Lamaethor!' Óleryd said loudly, but I held up a hand to ask him if I could speak for myself. He gave a small nod, but kept his eyes on us.

'What do you base this assumption on?' I asked.

'You run off to Imladris and stay there for months, leaving your people here to continue the fighting.' He said, staring at me intently.

'Ah.' I breathed in understanding. 'Yes, I do. Usually I go with reports, and get the same in return.'

'And why does not a messenger go?'

'Because the messengers require one squad to join them through Mirkwood?' The other elf that I had not gone on patrol with previously answered for me. He said it as a question and I nodded.

'Yes, although I will not deny that I enjoy going to Imladris.' I chuckled lightly. 'But effectively, by having me go, we free up one more squad to fight the Shadows.'

'I apologize for speaking hastily.' Lamaethor said, although he still did not seem entirely convinced, but I forgot about him when I heard hoof beats in the distance.

'Visitors are coming. I am certain it is the sons of Elrond.' I grinned at Óleryd and he gave a small indication of his head that it was all right for me to go greet them.

So I ran along the branches of the trees until I came to the edge and saw Elladan, Elrohir and Estel on their horses. When they were right below me, I jumped down. It was surprising to see Elrohir's horse bolt. So surprising that I only stood and watched as the horse bucked madly, making Elrohir fall off of him.

'What are you doing, Elrohir?' Elladan chuckled to his brother, as said brother scrambled to get to his feet again.

'Why do you not ask Legolas what he was doing, instead? Jumping into the midst of horses? Who  _does_  that?'

'I never knew you to have such an easily frightened horse.' I chuckled and called gently to the horse that was now standing still, watching me suspiciously. Its ears twitched as my voice reached its ears, and it blew out some air through its nostrils, deciding that maybe I was not so dangerous after all, and trotted back towards us.

'He's not easily frightened.' Elrohir said and patted the horse's neck gently as he came up to us. 'Although wood-elves are surely frightening enough for any beast to run away from.'

I grinned and gave him a hug, letting his gag go. It had been a long time since I had seen the brothers, they had been on orc-hunts the last couple of times I had visited Imladris.

'I have missed the two of you.' I touched the knee of Elladan who in turn rubbed his hand on my head, making me duck away, chuckling. 'And you also, Estel. Is your leg healed?'

'Completely.' He grinned and moved his left leg slightly as if to prove his point. 'Although there are remnants of ugly stitches still there.'

'One would think you'd be grateful that I took such responsibility and stitched you up.'

'I am, do not get me wrong. However, I should think someone that is five centuries old would surely know how to handle a needle and a thread.' He said mockingly.

'Did we not have this discussion the last time?' I answered.

'I merely thought we should finish it.'

'You should know more than to expect the prince to be able to handle a needle and thread, Estel.' Elrohir muttered and mounted his horse again. When Elrohir said "prince" I remembered what I was really supposed to be doing, and realized Lamaethor would probably not have been impressed by my disappearance from patrol.

'I must leave, but I will meet you in the morning when I will be back.' I smiled, and ran off.

'Did I anger him?' I heard Estel mutter insecurely.

'Nay.' Elladan chuckled. 'He is probably on patrol, or he would not have been here.' Then they started moving again, Elladan and Elrohir throwing gibes at each other. I knew it was difficult for Estel to keep merry around the poisoned parts of Mirkwood, not having the resilience of an elf, and Elrohir and Elladan were doing what they could to keep his humor up.

We returned to the halls during the morning without any incidences apart from Lamaethor disliking me even more after I returned from my meeting with my friends. It had probably not been in the best taste on my part to leave the patrol at that particular time. I had been aware that some were a bit reproachful of my going off every so often, but I had had no idea that they thought I was not doing anything for the kingdom. It had only been a partial reason, that I needed no squad when travelling through Mirkwood. The truth was that the contents of the reports could not always be given to anyone else. It would however not be in my father's best interest to have anyone find out that he did not trust a regular messenger to bring some of the most important messages. And while I often spent some time with Elrond's sons, I had more often been getting tied up in dull meetings.

'Legolas!' Estel said loudly, wincing a little at the echo of his voice in the vast halls.

'Estel.' I smiled. I could at least enjoy the moment. Since Estel was a human, I only had limited time to see him after all.

'I do not remember these halls being so loud the last time I was here.'

'Your voice was a lot less thunderous the last time you were here.' I grinned, and the tips of his ears got tinged red.

'I cannot help that.' He muttered.

'And he is grown!' Elladan said from behind him. 'Which seems to bring me to the bet we placed, all those years ago.' He smirked and I glared at him, knowing exactly which bet he was talking of.

'What trouble have you gotten yourself into now, Legolas?' Estel asked, humor in his voice.

'He assured us, quite persistently, that you, a Man, would not grow taller than he.' Elrohir said.

'But alas, it seems that you have.' Elladan continued for him, and I sighed.

'He has not. It is merely the unevenness of the ground that fools your eyes.'

'Nay, Legolas.' Estel chuckled. 'We can move places and I shall still stand taller than you.' I glared at him.

'We bet for the right to throw you in the Enchanted River. Now, who would you rather have do it? Me, or your brothers?' I smirked as he widened his eyes in surprise.

'That was another bet, Legolas.' Elrohir chuckled, and I rolled my eyes.

'Well, saying the bet was for me to take a mud bath was surely not going to put him on my side.' I lamented.

'No indeed.' Estel laughed. 'Although I should like to know what this other bet was.' He sounded a bit suspicious, making me grin. Not even I would throw someone in the Enchanted River, although, if I remembered correctly, I had had some pretty nice dreams while sleeping.

'There, there, children! Backs against each other.' Elladan said, and I reluctantly turned around. They were right of course. It was not by much, perhaps a finger's width or two, but Estel had indeed managed to outgrow me. I had not known when I made the bet that the Dúnedain were taller than regular Men, which I am sure that the twins had known.

'It is decided, let us go then.' Elladan grinned and took me by my arm.

'Oh, no.' I chuckled and twisted myself loose. 'Today, we have the games. I am participating, and would rather not show up dripping.'

'So we will wait until this evening.' Elrohir smiled evilly, making me shudder slightly.

'Estel, I blame this upon you!'

'I could hardly control how tall I would grow. What is it you usually say… do not regret things over which you have no control?'

'And thus, you are but a turncoat. I will forever mourn this moment, Estel.' I grinned as he slapped me lightly on my shoulder.

Then a throat was cleared behind us and I turned to see the Elf in charge of the games behind us.

'My prince, I must ask that you join the other archers in preparations.' He said a bit disapprovingly and I nodded.

'Can we come?' Estel asked, curiously, and I nodded.

'I will take the turncoat, for maybe I can still persuade him to switch sides, although with these two I fear it to be too late.' I said seriously, but could not quite keep from smiling.

'It will be dull and dreary, Estel.' Elrohir said. 'You shall stay hungry while we feast on the breakfast in the halls.'

'Hey!' Estel said, but the twins were already moving away. I just barely kept from laughing loudly at Estel's distraught expression. Maybe I would let him suffer for a while.

'Are you coming, Estel?' I asked, heard a soft sigh and then I got a sad nod in affirmative.

I will never be good at seeing my friends suffer. We barely got halfway to the archers' halls before I gave in and told him there would be food there as well. He quickened his steps then and I shook my head amusedly. The hunger that plagued Men did not affect Elves in similar ways. While we do feel hungry, it takes us much longer to reach that state of famine that they can reach in only a couple of days. Actually, in Estel's case I wondered if one night was not enough for him to go into starvation.

'Elladan and Elrohir said little of the games.'

'They do not know much about them, as my father is quite particular about who comes and goes during these games.'

'And yet he allowed us?' Estel said hesitantly.

'I might have had a hand in convincing him.' I smirked. To be honest, it had not been that hard, for he enjoyed meeting the twins, he had seen quite a lot of them when I was growing up after all, back when they had visited Mirkwood more often. My father has not quite taken to Estel yet, although he does not dislike him, and I merely think it is because he does not know him that he does not love him as I do.

'Then I thank you, for the insufferable twosome have been going on about how amazing the games will be ever since we set out from Imladris. As much as I hate to admit it, I enjoy it when they are happy.' He said with a slightly embarrassed tone to his voice.

'I shall not tell them you have said such words about them.' I chuckled and held open the doors to the armories, remade into the archer's halls.

He stepped through them, and just barely managed to avoid gaping. He had never been to our armories before which were what we used for the preparation rooms before the competition. There were rows upon rows of bows and armors. Swords and daggers were painting the walls with their shine.

All around, elves were maneuvering with practiced ease between the armors. Some were stringing their bows, some were shooting on practice targets, and yet some were standing by the breakfast table that had been tucked away into a corner. I noticed Estel straighten a bit as he saw it, and he stepped towards the table before he halted and turned towards me, slightly embarrassed. Men are quite odd, they look full grown before they are adults.

'Would you like anything, Legolas?'

'Nay. I could not eat.' I answered and he gave an understanding smile before he went off. As he collected his food, I went to collect my bow.

'You're not using your usual bow?' Estel asked, coming up behind me.

'This is my usual bow, Estel.' I chuckled. 'We are using the weapons we normally use for patrol, not for when we want foreigners to gaze upon us in admiration.'

'Your bow is not what causes admiration.' Estel muttered silently, and I pretended not to have heard him. The pride I felt inside though was hard to ignore, and I let a small smile come onto my lips.

'Why are you having these games?' He asked then, and pretty much all elves looked at him incredulously. He almost seemed to shrink in size for a moment before he took a deep breath and looked straight into my eyes. He's always been brave.

'They're held about once a century, if my brothers do indeed speak the truth, and all in Mirkwood join?' he said with a raised eyebrow. I nodded, waiting for him to continue, but he seemed to think about it, and changed what he was going to say.

'What of the wood? Is it unprotected?' I understood his question then. Why were we enjoying ourselves fighting in here, when we could be fighting true evil out there?

'We would not leave it unprotected, Estel. Patrols volunteer, even during the times of the games.'

'But…'

'We also need a moment of peace, Estel.' I interrupted him. 'We take part of these games because we wish to escape the Shadow, if only for a short while.'

'The games are for grace!' an elf piped in.

'And honor!'

'And boasting rights!' one Elf chuckled, making Estel snort in amusement.

'And loyalty. We play to show our loyalty for our king, but mostly, for our lands. We must not be disheartened by the Shadow that is spreading, for if we are, we will lose our souls.' I said and Estel looked at me in confusion. 'Most of the Elves were born before the woods became Mirkwood, and they remember the beauty of it.' I looked at my bow in sadness, absently stroking the wood of it.

'And we will have it restored. But shall we let our spirits be saddened by the weight of the Shadow, we will never win.' Another Elf said, and I nodded at her in thanks. 'This is why we need the games. They lift us up, like any game.'

Estel nodded. I was not entirely sure he fully understood it, but he would. He was young still, and could probably not imagine what centuries of fighting could do to a mind. For me, there had never been anything but Mirkwood. No Greenwood the Great, nothing to remind me of the beauty of what had been. All I had was my imagination, and the stories from my people. It had to be enough until we could get our forest back.

Before the archery competition was to begin Estel went off to find his twins so that they could watch together and I instantly felt more nervous. I was almost regretting inviting them for this. The last time I had participated I had sworn I would never do it again, my stomach just was not up for it. But then I had to go and win, and was pretty much forced to play again this year! Probably the twins and Estel would tease me to no end when I failed due to my nerves this year. I should have known that already, and never invited them!

'Legolas.' I heard a very faint whisper from outside the armory, and I snuck outside, where I lay eyes upon my father. His appearances were as regal as ever, but he had a small, proud smile on his face when I came out. It faded into a frown when he saw me however and I was afraid he had me figured out.

'You look pale.' He said silently. 'Were you hurt on patrol?'

'No, father.' I grinned. He looked just a little bit relieved, making me annoyed. 'I  _am_  perfectly capable of going on a patrol without hurting myself.' I muttered, and he laughed. I could not see if it was mockingly or tenderly. In the end I settled for tenderly, for that is what I wished for.

'Do win this year as well, son.' He said and gave be a slight incline of his head. I returned a bow, and he left me with my nerves.

The games started, and the day went by. The number of archers dwindled until we were only two left. He and I had matched our scores the entire way, and we were going to a shoot off. The first with the higher score would win.

We stood in the middle of the field, turned towards our target. I swallowed. I was certain my stomach would give up on me at any time, but if it did the three sons of Elrond would never let me live it down… and elves live for a really long time. I tried to tell myself that winning was not important, but before my mind I saw the proud smile that had been on the face of my father earlier the very same day.

My father would never know how anxious I got before these hellish events. Fighting in the woods, together with your patrol is one thing. You never have time to think before you have to shoot, or you would find yourself to be dead much sooner than wished for. You had to hit bulls-eye, or you would pierce a tree rather than a spider.

So I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined the bulls-eye to be the eye of a spider. The only way to kill it was to put the arrow straight through that eye. When they called for us to fire, I did not think, I just opened my eyes, set the arrow in its place, and released. All happened in the blink of an eye. I felt the surprised look from the Elf next to me, but he recovered and fired his own shot after a while.

'Bulls-eye both!' came the call from the judges and I closed my eyes yet again. I was filling up the fields in front of us with trees, and when the call to fire came, I released my arrow almost as soon as it touched the string. The Elf next to me flinched as he heard my arrow fly, and frowned as he saw it in the position of bulls-eye yet again. He took longer to fire this time, but he also hit bulls-eye.

Like this, it went on for five arrows more. The Elf was obviously becoming more and more disconcerted as I kept firing without barely taking a moment to aim. But I saw it all; I saw the exact path of the arrow through the nonexistent trees.

'Fire!'

I let my arrow loose, smiling slightly as it hit bulls-eye. I had finally figured out how to do this without having butterflies eating out the insides of my stomach. Then the Elf I was competing against shook a little just as he released his arrow. I immediately knew it would not find the center of the target, and so did he. He turned towards me and bowed as the arrow smacked into the target, just a hair's breadth from the bulls-eye.

'Prince Legolas. I am much humbled by your ability with the bow. I hope you will tell me how you managed to calm yourself so swiftly.' He said with a slight smirk. I was surprised; he had seen what my father could not.

'Thank you, my friend! I merely thought of the target as a spider.' I said, giving him a bow in return.

He looked up at me with a saddened gaze.

'I see.' He sighed. 'I much wish you could have seen Greenwood the Great, prince Legolas. Where we could teach elflings to shoot their bows without fearing for their lives.' He gave yet another bow and left me standing to look after him.

…

It was at the dining halls, during the feast of the evening that I saw Estel, Elrohir and Elladan again.

'He was pale though.' Elrohir said thoughtfully as they approached.

'Very much so! I thought he was ready to faint.' Estel snickered cheerfully and they stopped when they reached me.

' _I_  thought he was ready to throw up.' Elladan grinned widely. I did not realize that they were talking about me until Estel opened his mouth to speak. Thankfully he was standing beside me and I stepped on his foot, making him think of other things rather than telling the twins about my reluctance to food that very same morning.

'Ouch!' He growled. 'One would think Elves are  _light_ , but for beings that can run without leaving footprints, you sure can pack a lot of weight behind a stomp.'

'Elves do not stomp, Estel.' I said indignantly and he raised an eyebrow.

'My foot disagrees.'

'I merely… treaded.' I snickered.

'Speaking of treading…' Elrohir chuckled and laid his arm about my shoulders, making me freeze. That tone of voice was never the indicator of something good.

'Yes, I do believe we must tread our way to the river.' Elladan nodded in agreement, having known exactly what his brother was referring to.

'This will not, in any way or form, make me return soaking wet, will it?' I asked hesitantly.

'No!' Elladan said in horror. 'How would you even think such, brother?' Just the fact that he used brother to refer to me told me they were up to no good, and I remembered about the mud bath they had promised me earlier.

'Oh, no you don't! Mud baths are certain to return me soaking wet.' I said, and turned to leave, but was grabbed by my arms, and the twins made me halt.

'You must hold to your word, Legolas.' Elladan grinned.

'Rain check?' I asked hopefully, but they just shook their heads solemnly. I sighed. 'Very well! Let us go to the river and get this over with. Although you will be hard pressed to find enough mud to give me an entire bath.' I laughed and ran off towards the Forest River, the sons of Elrond following behind me. I controlled my pace, to give Estel a chance to keep up, but was surprised when he was running past me. Surprised because he ran so silently that I had mistaken him for Elladan, and surprised because he was so fast. Not wanting to be outdone, I increased my pace and ran by him.

Once we arrived at the outskirts of the healthy forest, by the river, I stopped.

'Well,' I said, turning around to meet the other three that were coming up behind me. 'I see no mud at all.' I grinned victoriously.

'Surely there is some. There used to be an entire plateau filled with it.' Elladan frowned and walked along the river for a bit to look for this plateau.

'I see it there, though the ground is dry.' Elrohir pouted and pointed towards a plateau a bit further up-river.

'Then a rain check it shall need to be.' I laughed happily. I could not believe my luck.

'No, not at all, Legolas!' Elrohir grinned, making my own mirth slip slightly. 'We shall wet it for you, for there is plenty of water in the river.'

And so it was that Elrohir and Elladan started filling their water skins in the river, and upending them over the sandy ground on the plateau. Estel was just looking at his brothers in humor, which I found to be quite smart, for he would then be the only one not covered in mud when we returned. Although I was certain I could do something about that.

'Estel, sit with me while we wait.' I chuckled and easily climbed up in one of the trees after greeting it reverently. Estel was soon behind me and we perched on a branch from where we could see all Elrohir and Elladan were doing.

'They will get muddy.' Estel said factually after a while.

'They will. Shall we tell them, you think?'

'Nay. I will be quite happy to be the only one getting away from here without a speck of dirt on me.' He chuckled.

'Without a speck of dirt?' I questioned, raising one eyebrow. 'I think not, dirty human, for you already have a speck of dirt. Should you ever return without even a speck of it, I would be worried indeed, for that would mean you had not moved.' I smiled somewhat evilly, again thinking that I would need to fix his appeared cleanliness somehow. Opportunity would certainly arise.

He gave me a slight push and I was about to give back in turn when a small shout was heard from the plateau. I looked over just in time to see Elladan fall into the mud. Estel, Elrohir and I all laughed, for it was quite a sight.

'You are a poor specimen of an elf,' I called, 'when you cannot even keep from slipping in the mud.'

'Well, I think it is muddy enough for Legolas now.' Elladan muttered with a glare in my direction as he rose from his impromptu bath.

'Since he is paler than you, I am sure he will look even better, when dripping with mud.' Elrohir chuckled, and gave an undignified yelp as his brother tackled him to the muddy ground.

'Sorry brother, I just wished to see what you would look like.' Elladan grinned and jumped out of the way from his brother.

'About the same as you, I would expect.' He growled. I kept silent, thinking that they may forget about me if they were busy picking at each other. There was no such luck to be had for me, however, as just when I thought it they turned towards me in unison.

I took a deep breath and moved towards them, after removing my tunic. They jumped up from the plateau and came to join me as I walked towards my doom. I flinched when Elrohir slapped his cold, muddy hand on my back, and shivered when some of that cold mud ran down my back. Maybe I should not have removed that tunic. I came to the edge, right above the plateau and gathered myself to jump down when I was suddenly pushed.

I was easily able to get my feet under me before landing on the plateau. The slippery mud was not really proving any difficulty and the twins jumped down behind me.

'Well, the prissy Elf is too good to make keep his word.' Elrohir grinned widely, looking just a bit crazed. I think I took a step backwards. Then they both rushed me. Their arms came up to grab me about my shoulders, but I ducked away at the last moment, making them fall again, faces straight down in the mud.

Estel's pearly laughter came from the tree and I smiled up at him, when suddenly my pants were grabbed from behind and one of the twins dropped a load of mud into them. I am afraid to admit that I might have shrieked. Estel's surprised guffaw certainly suggested that I had. So I leaned down, grabbed a handful of mud and shaped it into a ball. I chanced a look at Estel who was laughing so hard that his eyes were closed, and I sent the ball of mud flying, hitting him squarely in his chest. He gasped, and fell backwards off of the tree branch. He still had his knees about the branch and hung upside down for a moment before he let himself drop off.

'Trying to kill our brother, ey?' I heard a dark voice behind me, and then felt a slab of mud being slapped upon my head, sullying my hair. I turned around slowly, narrowing my eyes.

'It be war that you want?' I asked, glaring at the two. They looked at each other apprehensively.

'Maybe, dear brother, you should have left his hair out of it?'

'I fear you might be correct, my dear brother. He always  _has_  been a bit prudish when it comes to that mane.' Elrohir answered and I bent quickly to gather and fire off a mud projectile at him. It unleashed the war and we were turning and ducking and throwing and tackling, all the while slipping around. Even Estel joined the fray at some point of time, and it was long before we let up.

'I would say we are about as muddy as Legolas.' Estel noted as we walked back towards the Elvenking's Halls.

'True. And I thought this punishment was for Legolas alone.' Elrohir said thoughtfully.

'It is not through any fault of mine that you chose to join in the mud.' I smirked and Estel cleared his throat to gain my attention.

'I did not tell you to throw a mud ball at me.'

'Nay, not in so many words; it was your demeanor that demanded it.' I chuckled and ducked away from Estel's hand that was about to land on the back of my head.

'Legolas!' I heard my father's angry voice then and straightened. He was standing in front of us, his cool gaze pinning us down.

'My lord.' I murmured with a small bow. The others just bowed, and I struggled to keep a straight face as a mud cake fell from Elrohir's hair, onto the stairs before the gates.

'Pray tell, how was a mud bath more important than the festivities of the evening? I am sure you know you came in first today, and was expected to, at the very least, sing for your victory.'

I felt myself blushing.

'I misplaced that memory, father. I apologize.' I muttered, and felt the unease of my three friends that were half a step behind me.

'It is not to me you must apologize. Our people is what is important, and it is them you have kept waiting. Do you think it so easy to earn their loyalty?'

'It was our fault!' Elladan butted in and I sighed.

'It was not. There is none at fault here other than I.' I told Thranduil steadily, who raised one eyebrow in displeasure. 'I shall go to the festivities and apologize.'

The king held me with his scrutinizing gaze before he sighed.

'Be quick.' He just said and I started to run off.

'And Legolas!' he called, making me turn around. 'Do take a bath first.' He kind of smirked at that before he turned back to the other three. I ran off again.

'I would speak to you after you have cleaned up. Be in the throne room in one candle-mark.' It was the last I heard before I reached the baths.

I was quick in taking my bath, and dressing up once more in a bit more formal attire. Normally, I would not have bothered, and would just have worn my regular clothes, but I felt I owed it to show proper respect, after I had failed so badly. Then I went about apologizing, singing and greeting those that wished to be greeted, before I had to change clothes again to prepare for patrol.

Óleryd again asked if I wished for leadership of his patrol, and again I declined. They had been placed a bit farther out this night, but yet not farther than that we could get to the area within a candle-mark.

Lamaethor had been shooting angry glares at me ever since we left the Elvenking's Halls, and I was getting just a bit tired of it, it was not exactly productive to the patrol.

A twig on the ground snapped far away, in the direction of the Elvenking's Halls, and I frowned. No Elf would make that mistake. The spiders generally do not tread the ground. It was likely to just have been some other kind of animal. Although rare, they did wander into this forest on occasion. Normally, they did not stay for long.

I let my eyes travel the forest, noting where each Elf of the patrol was settled. A bit away I saw trees moving against the wind, and I drew an arrow, and put it against the string of my bow.

'Legolas?' Óleryd asked apprehensively and looked in the same direction as I.

'Orcs.' We snarled together as we saw a band of the foul creatures come into sight. We were nowhere near their regular paths to Dol Guldur, and thus I suspected they were doing more than just marching through the woods.

Óleryd whistled as the lark sings to gather everyone together. Although it would be impossible for a lark to inhabit these woods anymore, orcs were not ones to notice. I remembered the first time I ever heard a real lark sing. I had thought someone was calling for us to gather together… Elladan and Elrohir had not let me hear the end of it for a very long time.

Quick hand signs from the leader told us what he wished for us to do. As the bowmen in the patrol, Lamaethor and I were sent ahead to diminish their numbers before they would meet up with the rest.

We stopped in a tree from where we were able to fire upon the orcs. I quickly fired three arrows and reached for more even as the first bodies were falling to the ground, causing disarray within the group of orcs. The confusion allowed Lamaethor and I to kill off six more before they realized where we were, and we had to move back.

Both of us ran with bow in one hand, and at least one arrow in the other. I thought we were clear but then I heard the whoosh of a crossbow being fired. I jumped off a branch turning in the air to see where the arrow was heading, and fired off a shot when I saw it was going straight at Lamaethor's back, splitting the oncoming arrow in half. I twisted again and landed easily on the next branch and got a somewhat surprised, but appreciative nod from Lamaethor, which I returned. It was about the closest we would come to apologize to each other while still among enemies.

Once we had joined our patrol in the ambush, we both settled into separate trees and waited for the orcs to arrive. I still had my bow, although Lamaethor had discarded his in favor for his sword. When the orcs came the others jumped down as I fired two shots rapidly, killing off two more, before I also discarded the bow and unsheathed my knives. Upon landing I immediately stuck one knife in the back of one orc, as I slit the throat of another.

It was with great annoyance that I noticed the number of foes was far above what I had first expected. This also made me feel as though something was not entirely right, but I could not put my finger upon what it could be.

One of the elves let out a strangled cry then, and I turned to see him being pierced in the arm by an orc's blade. I rushed for him, but Óleryd was there before I, decapitating the orc. I fought my way over there anyways and kept vigil around them as Óleryd helped the warrior to tie a tourniquet around the wound.

'Legolas!' Lamaethor cried then and I ducked as I turned, a maze flying above my head. The momentum that the weight of the maze gave the orc allowed me to step in and sink my knife into its armpit where no armor covered it. It shrieked and drew away, making me lose grip of my knife. Unfortunately I could not spend time thinking about my loss for another orc was demanding my attention, so instead of my knife, I grabbed one of my arrows.

Now, while my arrows are quite sturdy, they are no knives. And the problem with replacing your knife with your arrow is that you reflexively still fight as though you have a knife in that hand. It served my purpose well as long as I only used it to stab my opponents. Unfortunately for me, that is not all you do in a fight. A sword was descending upon me and I lifted my left knife to parry it, but it broke and I realized too late it had been my arrow. I felt the sword dig its way into my shoulder even as I stabbed the orc in its jugular with my real knife. It fell away, dragging the sword with it, leaving me with a deep, ugly gash.

I turned to meet another orc, but stayed my hand when there was none to be found. I let my eyes travel the field and found all orcs dead on the ground, and all elves, while most were wounded, were standing. I let out a sigh of relief, when I felt Lamaethor grab me by my shoulders and quickly pulled me into his arms, turning us around. Then he stumbled with a groan and I grabbed on to him as he faltered.

First, I saw my knife embedded in his back, and then I saw the orc in which I had last left the knife move his lips upwards in a smirk. I threw my other knife right into the creature's forehead and it died.

'Lamaethor.' I breathed and lowered him slowly to a seated position. I kneeled down on one leg next to him, and held him carefully, avoiding jarring the knife. His eyes were closed and his breathing was ragged.

'Now, we're even.' He pushed out, and I shook my head.

'We already were. You stopped my head from being crushed by a maze from the very same orc already, remember?'

'True. Then you owe me,' He smiled slightly, but still would not open his eyes.

I looked towards Óleryd who was currently taking care of another's wounds and I waved him over. He frowned as he saw Lamaethor in my grip, and bent down to look at the position of the knife. His dismayed look made me clench my teeth. Óleryd pointed to his heart.

'I do. I owe you Lamaethor. What would you have me give?'

'Forgiveness.' He whispered, contorting his face in apparent pain.

'For what?'

'My behavior. I was out of line.'

'You were not. It is full within your rights to question that which you do not agree with. But if you wish for my forgiveness, you have it.' I said it quickly, but clearly, hoping against hope that he would stay with us.

He opened his eyes then and looked straight into mine.

'I was loyal. Unto the end.' He said, stronger than he had said anything else, and a lone tear fell out of his eye.

'Thank you.' I breathed, but he was already gone. I swallowed harshly before picking up his body and getting to my feet. The pain in my shoulder was nothing against the pain in my heart. No one else could carry the body of the one who had died for me.

'We leave.' I said to Óleryd and he just nodded, sorrow clearly visible in his eyes. He gathered up the rest of the patrol and we started walking.

I am sure we had been a sorry sight for the guards. Two had difficulties walking, and were leaning on their comrades. Everyone was covered in the black blood of the orcs, and most of us were bleeding from one wound or another as well. But the worst was what was lying in my arms.

'The king requests your attendance.' The guard said as soon as we walked passed him. Both Óleryd and I nodded in affirmation, and smiled to each other tiredly. 'Both of you.' The guard confirmed.

It pained me, but I transferred Lamaethor's body to one of the healers that had gathered. Apparently everyone had heard of our less than thrilling arrival.

Óleryd and I walked slowly to the throne room, neither of us especially excited about reporting the events to the king. But, inevitably, we arrived by the doors and were immediately let in by the guards.

Thranduil was sitting in his throne, looking weary. I was sure Óleryd was not getting the same impression, but I knew my father. Although we had been out for a very long time, he was still wearing the same robes he had when we left, which meant that he had not yet gone to bed, for he would not use the same robe two days in a row. Something must have happened within the caverns as well.

Óleryd gave a low bow, and I made sure to match his, as to not put myself above him in any way.

'Orcs came upon us by the edge between west five and west six.' Óleryd began.

'What of the patrols in west six?' Thranduil asked with a stern gaze.

'I… do not know.'

'There were no sounds of fighting previously.' I cut in, not wishing for Óleryd to be reprimanded, and Thranduil turned his glare to me instead.

'If they were at the edge of west seventeen, you would not have heard them.'

'Nay, but no orcs had any wounds before we came upon them.' I answered. 'I refuse to believe a patrol has been taken down without inflicting any wounds.'

'Your mind does not think long enough, Legolas. What if there were more orcs, going through all our areas?' I opened my mouth again but he held his hand up to silence me. 'No matter, we are sending out hunters to see who else, if any, have been attacked. Please continue, Óleryd.'

Óleryd seemed slightly taken aback by the argument between my father and I, but quickly brought himself out of it, and finished his report.

'That is all, Óleryd! Join your patrol in the healing halls.' Thranduil said and Óleryd left after giving a bow to the king and a compassionate smile at me.

I stood silently, waiting for my king to say something. He, in turn, looked at me intently until he sighed.

'The Elf who died, Lamaethor… he did not like you, and yet you are anguished. What happened?'

'How well you read me, father.' I smiled sadly, and he just waited for me to continue. 'As Óleryd said, he was slain at the very end of the battle. He took a knife meant for me.' I sighed.

Thranduil walked gracefully down the steps that separated us, and stepped in front of me. He looked directly into my eyes.

'I am sorry, Legolas.'

'Do you know his last words?' I asked, almost angrily. Of course he did not, so he just waited. 'I was loyal, unto the end.' I shook my head.

'And he was. He shall receive a farewell to reflect his commitment.' Thranduil said, but I do not think that he quite understood why it was so upsetting to me.

'He saved me because I am the prince. Because he thought it was the  _loyal_  thing to do.' I said it in distaste.

'Nay, son! He saved you because you were in his patrol. You fought together before he died, yes?' I just nodded. 'Is that not the greatest way to strengthen the bond between two elves?' I frowned. Maybe he did understand.

'I  _have_  been on the battlefield myself, son. While it was a long time ago, I still remember the feelings that came from brandishing your sword with your comrades. The only loyalty that matters on the battlefield is the one between allies.'

I sighed. It was easy to forget that my father had in fact had a life outside of Mirkwood once. That he had fought in battles much more frightening than the ones we were fighting now.

'You are right.' I sighed.

'You are not convinced.' He smiled gently and pushed a hair that had fallen out of my braid behind my ear. My hair usually did not betray me like that, but I did not mind my father's touch. 'It is difficult, Legolas, to fill two roles at once. Sometimes you have to choose which takes precedence.'

I nodded slowly and Thranduil chuckled.

'Go to the healing halls. I will join you there in a few moments.' He said, dismissing me.

Before going to the healing halls, I took a detour to the armory to pick up a new bow with arrows and new daggers for I had left my regular bow by the orcs, and the knives were tainted. They had tasted Elven blood, and would never be used again. I was only halfway to the healing halls when I met two distraught twins.

'Legolas!' Elladan asked in an angry voice, which took me aback. 'Have you seen Estel?'

'Nay. What is wrong?'

' _Your_  father seems to have given him some odd ideas about your friendship, and I fear he has left.' Elrohir grumbled.

'Left?' I answered simply.

'Yes. Left. Gone. Into Mirkwood would by my guess!' I groaned as Elladan said this.

'I heard a twig snap. But it was long since.' I muttered, realizing it might very well have been Estel. The thought made me turn towards the horse's area rather than the healing halls. The twins followed me.

'And you did not go check it out!'

'It was not in our area!' I defended my decision and whistled for Andúnë. He immediately showed himself, trotting out from between the trees. I grabbed onto his mane and vaulted onto his back as he went past me.

The twins had whistled for their horses as well, but only Elladan's showed up. I chuckled as I realized Elrohir's horse was not yet fully trained.

'Stupid horse.' He muttered and I whistled for another of the Mirkwood horses who came immediately.

'Elrohir, meet Delebil.'

'You're joking.' I heard Elrohir groan at the name, but he got on.

'She's not really abominable, although her name suggest it.' I chuckled, but added 'Though it was apt when she was but a foal,' under my breath as we set off at a gallop.

'Sure.' Elrohir muttered, but he was quite safe upon her back.

We followed Estel's footprints for a long while. He is quite careful not to leave footprints, but he is no elf, as we love pointing out to him, so even though they were few and far between, we could track him quite easily. The disconcerting thing was that we went further and further north, towards Dol Guldur.

I absently rubbed my injured shoulder as we rode on. I remembered that I had been worried about all the bleeding it had done, but it appeared as though it had slowed to a sluggish flow. I could feel some effects from the blood loss however, because my fingers felt cold.

'Legolas?' Elladan asked. His anger seemed to have dissipated since we had left the Elvenking's halls.

'I hope he has not been attacked by orcs.' I muttered.

'Legolas, you're hurt.' Elladan continued, not caring about my comment. I was actually amazed that they had not commented about my blood-drenched tunic earlier, but their concern for their brother was correctly overshadowing anything else.

'A scratch.' I chuckled.

'The blood says differently.' Elrohir grumbled. 'Let us see it?'

'We need to catch up to Estel.' I said, not stopping Andúnë. 'He should be close.'

The twins did not say anything. Over the years they had known when to push it, and when not to. This was apparently one of those times they were not going to push for more. Sometimes I did not even know myself what would be for the best.

It was well into the morning when we felt the smell and scrunched our noses. It was orcs, for sure and we rode faster as we noticed Estel's tracks going in the direction of the stench.

We found orcs lying scattered. Many were shot with Mirkwood arrows, and I was surprised that we had not met another patrol going back to the halls until I found the first body. He was lying under an orc, his long knife embedded in its throat, the orc's blade puncturing his lungs. I think I shouted, for Elrohir and Elladan were soon by me, helping me get the orcs off of his body.

'Did you know him?'

'Nay.' I answered tersely, for I knew him only by name, we had never spoken more than the casual greeting. 'There are probably others, they would not have left anyone here.'

Elrohir sighed and carelessly put his hand on my injured shoulder. I flinched away from him in pain.

'Let me look at it now.' Elladan said, and did not wait for my reply before looking through the tear in my tunic.

'Get it off.' He said tightly and I sighed as I put my weapons on the ground and tried to get out of my tunic, but my left arm would no longer obey my command to be lifted above my head. So Elrohir grabbed my tunic and pulled it off.

'Legolas!' Elrohir growled. 'You should have told us you were on your way to the healing halls.'

'It did not matter.' I muttered grumpily as Elladan tried to clean the gash in my shoulder with water from his water skin. 'We need to bury their bodies.'

'We need to find Estel.' Elrohir said with a sigh.

'What if he's…?' I started and flinched as Elladan put his needle through my skin.

'Keep your lost hope to yourself.' Elladan snarled.

'I apologize.' I sighed.

'I'll look for tracks.' Elrohir said and left us. Just as Elladan was finished Elrohir cried out.

'I find no tracks from Estel, but orcs have left.'

'What about…' his body?

'No!' Elrohir growled. 'But Legolas,' he took a deep breath, 'I have found eight more Mirkwood elves.'

I closed my eyes and sighed painfully. I had known this, for as I had said, they would not have left anyone behind. We needed to bury them, but if Estel was out there he had probably been captured by the orcs. The bodies could wait, but Estel could not.

'We set out again.' I said and we got onto our horses. At least we were faster than orcs.

We were going as quickly as the horses could take us between the trees. When the forest became too dense for the horses to go faster than at a trot we switched to running. I increased my pace when I thought I heard the clash of swords, and when I heard it again I called out to the twins.

'Fighting ahead.'

I jumped into the closest tree and continued my run there instead, to try and keep out of sight of any enemies. The twins followed my example, but they are in no way as accustomed to travelling the trees as I, and I was soon ahead of them.

I stopped when I saw that the fighting had stopped, and Estel had sat down to sharpen his sword. I snorted slightly in relief before I ran towards him again. Once I arrived, I dropped down behind him. He immediately turned around and slashed with his sword towards me. I jumped backwards, frowning.

'You heard me?' I asked incredulously.

'I saw you.' He grinned, and held up his shining sword, allowing me to see my reflection in it.

'Then you meant to kill me.' I murmured.

'I knew you could jump away.' He looked at me, and his eyes widened. 'You are wounded!' He took a step forward, reaching for my shoulder, but I turned out of his way.

'Nothing your brothers have not already tended to.' I muttered and looked to the five dead orcs at our feet. 'There were only five?'

'Many were killed before they knocked me out. I assume the Elves managed to take care of the rest. Did you pass them?'

It was not hard to figure out what had happened. The elves would have tried to avoid Estel being taken by the orcs, and they had died trying. I could only find one reason why, and that is that Estel is my friend. I sighed softly, more deaths, because of elves doing what they  _thought_  was the right thing. Because I was the son of our king!

'Legolas? Are they all right?'

'They are dead.' I answered, rather coldly, just as Elladan and Elrohir joined us. They immediately pushed me away to surround their brother. As much as they teased him, they loved him greatly.

'You have a concussion.' Elladan said, accusingly.

'Forgive me for being hit by a maze.' Estel muttered, turning his head away a little from Elrohir's hands that had to feel for the bump that Elladan was pointing out.

'I will take it into consideration.' Elladan smirked and stepped away, apparently satisfied no more injuries were being hidden. We began our walk back towards the horses.

'Why were you so stupid as to run into the woods alone?' Elrohir asked then, and I looked at Estel in interest.

'I just… needed some time alone?'

'With orcs?' I chuckled, a bit mockingly.

'I'm pretty sure  _your_  father was at fault here, Legolas.' Elrohir snarled at me.

'And what did he say?' I asked, feeling a bit defensive, but knowing that my father did have a knack of saying just the wrong things to the human.

'Nothing much.' Estel answered, red spots creeping over his face, towards his ears. Quite apparently, he was in shame over his behavior, after having thought it over.

'What did he say?' I asked again and Estel sighed.

'That I would kill you if we kept being friends.' He said and I am sorry to say that I could not contain a laugh. His glare then was cold enough to put ice on the river and I curbed my humor.

'And you thought to remove yourself from me?'

'If I'm away from you, I cannot kill you.' He rolled his eyes; apparently he thought his answer was obvious.

'Indeed, though I would continue hunting you.' I smirked.

'Why?'

'Because you are my friend and I enjoy being with you. I will allow you to leave only if you leave of your own free will, not by my father's rash words.'

'Well… I guess you would manage to kill yourself off easily enough, even without me.' He grinned teasingly.

'How so?' I humored him.

'You're always getting into trouble.'

'Indeed?'

'Yes. And I guess I will need to stick around to protect you.' He grinned proudly and I snorted.

'Thank you kindly.' I grinned back at him.

The horses were waiting where we had left them, and Estel took mine as I ran along the trees to gather a patrol to help me with the bodies of our kin. It was long into the night before we finished and I was summoned to my father as soon as I went inside the gates.

For once, he was not sitting in his throne, but he was standing just inside the doors of his throne room.

'How many, father?' I asked immediately

'There are ten dead. There were two bands of orcs it seems, but none can say how they got so far through our defenses before we noted they were here. We think they had some purpose, someone is leading the orcs.'

'Then we are in trouble indeed. It has been easy when they have been disorganized. If someone is leading them...' I trailed off. I had trouble even thinking about it.

'We need to be more on our guard. We need to put out more patrols, no one else should need to go to the Halls of Mandos.'

'It is such a waste. Somehow, they all died because of me.' I muttered.

'Nay. They all died because they had a greater purpose.'

'You sound like Mithrandir.' I snorted. 'Is then everything we do controlled?' I shook my head, not really wanting to get into this discussion. 'Why did you fill Estel's head with such foolishness? He will kill me?' I asked with a raised eyebrow, and Thranduil smiled at me sadly, but tenderly.

'He will. You are loyal to a fault, Legolas. Your rushing off to find him now only proves it. But I did not think your friendship had grown so deep already.' He said this sadly.

'Why be sad over such a fact, father? You always said you live and you die by your friends. Estel is someone I wish to live and die for.'

He looked at me with pain in his eyes.

'Your friendship will run to its end with his short lifespan, and I am afraid his death would be too much for you to bear.'

I shook my head.

'I have had many friends die. I do not ever wish to experience his death, but I know that I shall.'

'His death is final.' My father said, and I grew a bit annoyed.

'I am no elfling anymore, father. I can choose my own friends. Actually, you have never tried to control it before.'

'I have never had cause for worry before.'

'You have no cause for worry now either. There are many years yet.'

He sighed then.

'I believe you are also meant for something great, son. I will not stop you from being friends with anyone.'

'You could not.' I smiled and he quirked his lips upwards.

'Nay, I could not. I will not like your friendship, but I know you will protect each other, so I will accept it. Just… stay with me after he has gone?'

I blinked in surprise. My father looked oddly vulnerable where he stood in front of me.

'I will live after his death if I am still around to see it. I swear this.' I answered and my father nodded solemnly.

'Loyalty between Men is fleeting, Legolas.'

'Loyalty between Elves is forever.' I answered him and left, feeling how his eyes bore a hole through my back. Estel is not an Elf in the purest sense of the word. But in his ways, he's as much an Elf as any of us.

He would never betray me.


End file.
